Councillor John Orrick, Liberal Democrat member for Caterham on the Hill, issued the warning at the Surrey County Council cabinet meeting on Tuesday (June 21).

He described the 541, 542 and 411 bus services, which run through Caterham, as ‘extraordinarily important to many of our residents.’

Mr Orrick said: “There are things to be welcomed in this report, most certainly, the enhanced services namely the 409 service and the 540.

“There are however some drawbacks in taking out the 541 and 542.

“There are only two buses per hour up and down Church Hill which, as the member for Warlingham will know only too well, is quite a steep hill.

“It is a real case of Caterham being two villages divided by a hill so the more buses, the more chances to connect the two, is a real help for the community.”

The proposal, which is phase two of Surrey County Council’s scheme to slash £800,000 of spending on subsidised bus services, is targeting routes serving the three boroughs.

Several revisions were made to the ‘Your Buses, Your Say’ document in Tandridge , including the creation of the new Metrobus 400 route from East Grinstead to Caterham, via East Surrey Hospital and Godstone, to alleviate concerns over access to medical facilities.

However, a number of services will be reduced or axed completely including routes 541, 542 and 411 which will all be incorporated into other services although none will operate on Sundays or bank holidays.

Route 410 services from Redhill to Godstone and Oxted will double in frequency while two buses per hour will run on route 409 linking Caterham with Croydon to the north.

Route 236 from Oxted to East Grinstead will cease its once-daily extension to Crawley, a commercially funded section, and will be withdrawn from New Farthingdale and re-routed through Dormansland - although the 281 will be extended to provide a daily link from Lingfield to Crawley.

This will bring about the demise of the once-a-week 544 from Dormansland to Crawley.

The Buses4U dial-a-ride service will no longer operate on Sundays or bank holidays and one of the two vehicles will cease at 7pm with the other running until 11pm.

In Surrey Heath and west Woking , new links will be made from Pirbright Camp to Guildford and between Horsell, Woking and Guildford.

Route 28, which currently runs an hourly service from Woking to Guildford via Knaphill will re-route to serve Pirbright Camp and St John's while service 48 will operate two-hourly from Woking to Frimley Park Hospital via Horsell.

Service 502 which links Camberley and Paddock Hill Estate will cease to operate but route number 11, a new service, will operate between Farnborough and Paddock Hill.

Travel from Chobham to Woking on the 39 will be cut to two services per day on Monday, Wednesday and Friday but a more regular service between Staines and Camberley will be operated on route 500 which will also offer additional early evening journeys from Sunningdale station.

Accessbus service 601 will continue to operate on Thursday mornings between Hermitage Estate and Woking while also passing through the Bingham Drive area of Inkerman.

The 602 will re-route slightly but continue to operate a single round trip on a Tuesday morning from Ripley to Woking town centre.

Cllr Ian Lake, cabinet member for transport, said: “We spent a long time listening to the views of bus users and those views have shaped the changes.

“The review was an opportunity to take a fresh look at Surrey’s bus routes to make sure they meet the needs of residents while providing value for money.

“Action was needed because bus subsidy costs were spiralling by millions of pounds at taxpayers’ expense.

“These changes ensure Surrey residents are served by buses that meet as many peoples’ needs as possible while offering good value for money.”

The new routes will come into force from the weekend of September 3 and 4.